Dirty Little Secret

Well now that I have this brand spanking new blog lay out I thoght it might be time to come clean about something. I decided to go back on Optifast a couple of weeks ago. I didn't want to blog about it until I was sure I was going to stay on it. Late last year I tried to start Optifast every second day for about 2 months and could never stay on it for much longer then half a day. So this time I decided to give myself 1 chance only and if I failed after the first day then that was it, I would go back to my normal healthy eating plan.So I have been doing well on it and haven't found it to be too difficult this time.

I first tried Optifast in February of 2006 when I was at my heaviest weight of 128.5 kilos and feeling pretty lost and desperate. I lost 13 kilos in 8 weeks to get down to 115.5 kilos. Since that time I have hovered around that weight, sometimes gaining a couple of kilos and sometimes losing a couple of kilos. I am proud to say that I have kept that weight off for over a year, which is something I have never done before.

For those of you who are not familiar with Optifast, it is a liquid diet, replacing all 3 meals a day with shakes, soups or bars, as well as 2 cups of vegies a day. You can buy these from the chemist, I pay A$38.50 for a box of shakes that lasts me a week. They call it a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) for dietary management of obesity. They even sent me a pen that says that- not exactly a pen I ever want anyone to see me using! ;-)

So the first week of doing this diet I was starving and not feeling 100%, but now my body has adjusted to the extreme diet I feel fine. I am not hungry all the time anymore- except when I see a pizza ad on TV! The good thing is that chocolate cravings disappear because I am eating/drinking chocolate every day in the form of shakes and bars. I know a lot of people find the taste of the shakes revolting, but I actually don't mind them and feel very full after drinking one. I have a shake for breakfast, a bar for lunch, 2 cups of vegies for dinner and a shake for dessert. Exercise is not necessary on this diet, but I am doing walking and strength training to keep strong and fit.

I do this diet for 2 reasons. Firstly, it is fantastic to know that I will lose weight on this if I do it correctly. I know every week when I get on the scales I will register a loss and it feels fabulous. Secondy, it eliminates food from my mind and life. As a food addict I am obsessed by food. I think about it all day long, when I am going to get it, where I am going to get it from, making sure I have enough and I get angry if someone stops me from being able to get the food I want. I am literally addicted and as an addict sometimes it is best to eliminate the 'drug' from your life totally.

I am hoping to stay on this diet until I get under 100 kilos (having a break when I go to NZ of course). I know that a lot of people have had bad experiences on these gimmicky diets and they are definitely not for everyone, but right now I am feeling good and I think I am doing the right thing for myself.

***Braces for criticism***